The invention relates to a rack-and-pinion steering apparatus, and more particularly, to such apparatus of center-takeoff type in which track rods which transmit a steering force to steerable road wheels are connected to a rack shaft intermediate its length.
In general, in a rack-and-pinion steering apparatus of center-takeoff type, track rods which transmit a reciprocating motion of the rack shaft to turn the steerable road wheels are connected to an intermediate portion of the rack shaft by means of bolts through an elongate slot which is formed in a rack housing, rather than being connected to opposite end faces of the rack shaft. In order to limit the axial movement of the rack shaft, the pair of bolts which are used to connect the track rods are used to secure a stop member to the rack shaft, with the end face of the stop members being arranged for interference with the end face of the elongate slot formed in the rack housing to stop the rack shaft.
In conventional steering apparatuses of the type described, the rack housing is formed of a metal material while either metal or resin material is used to construct the stop member. When the stop member is formed of a metal, it has sufficient strength to provide a satisfactory reliability in its function to limit the stroke, but suffers from the generation of disagreeable sounds of percussions between metals. The use of resin stop effectively reduces such percussion sounds, but suffers from the inability to obtain sufficient reliability in limiting the stroke.